Travelog for: Cool Jules

Its warmed up a little and today I had a friend to hang out with.  Coney has been away in Iraq becuase he is in the Army.  He is back now and was home for Easter.  We decided we are going to go on some adventures together while he is here.


Coney is a soldier so I think that makes him pretty cool too.

Today we went to the Colorado Monument.  It is Easter and it is Coneys birthday.  Tomorrow Coney will fly back to the Army base at Ft Bragg, North Carolina and I will soon be going back to Miami.

Coney and me and Lucky-Ducky had a good time on the Monument today.  We were'nt AT the Monument, we were ON the Monument.  We were only on part of it though because wourpet says it is about 23 miles long and lots of up and down and winding roads.

We drove through lots of tunnels on our way up and down the mountains


We could really see lots of the valley from up here.




We drove up a very crooked winding road -- you can see it from here.



Here is a cool rock called 'Balanced Rock'  I hope it stays balanced.



When we came back down we drove out to the desert.



This is the high desert -- or an 'Alpine Desert'  it has lots of red rock, sand, sagebrush and cactii.

On top of the monumet we could see down over some very large canyons.  This is a picture of us hanging onto a tree on the edge.  I was pretty cool -- didn't get too scared.







The Colorado Mountain is part of the Colorado Plateau



It covers a large part of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Nevada.  The sign had losts of information about it.







The sign says that the Colorado Plateau moves independently from the rest of North America -- like an island in the dirt -- and about 10,000 years ago it popped up a mile high above the rest of the country.  Up here on the Monument we are even higher.




Looking off the monument in the other direction we could see the Grand Valley and the city of Grand Junction and other towns like Fruita, Palisades, Clifton and Whitewater.  The Colorado River flows through the valley.

Today I am packing up and getting ready to go back to MIAMI !  How cool is that?  Well really, its HOT and I am looking forward to that.  It is still too cool here for Cool Jules.

While I was packing today a box came with some more TVs.  Candy Cotton from Australia and Mittens from Florida came together from Missouri. 
Here we all are together before I left.  There's Coney, Mittens, Lucky-ducky, me and Candy Cotton.

I am in Miami again!  I enjoyed my visit so much last time, that I just had to come back for another visit.  Yum Yum and Ossa made some popcorn and we sat out by the lake to enjoy the balmy breeze.

I went on a nature hike today with Ossa and Yum Yum at Matheson Hammock Park.  The nature trails were a little spooky, but cool! 

Here we are sitting on a log:


We had to climb over this big boulder so we could continue down the trail:


I climbed up this tree that was growing over the trail:


We found a little cave!

Today our host took us on a 15-mile bike ride through Shark Valley in the Everglades National Park!  I didn't know this park was so big, and we only saw a very small part of it!

First we rode the bike about 3/4 mile to the Otter Cave Hammock Trail where we read a sign about the trail:


Here I am with Ossa and Yum Yum.  We are looking down into holes in the rock and there is water underneath!


We rode on for a few miles and then stopped to take a picture of the Everglades.  There's not much out here but grass and some bushes!


About half way on our bike ride, we stopped at this observation tower and had lunch:




After lunch, I saw an alligator!

Ossa and I had planned on going to the beach today, but it's raining!


Prince Charming could tell that we were very disappointed, so he offered to read us a story.  He read Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman.  What a great story!  It's about an aeronaut who meets a polar bear in the North Pole and they have a grand adventure together.


We found a game in the back of the book, so we decided to play it.  The game is called Perils of the Pole - sounds exciting!

Today our host took Ossa and me for a bike ride down Old Cutler Road, which is in a very beautiful section of town.  Our bike ride started at Cartagena Circle where we saw a pair of giant shoes!





Nearby we saw a pretty little canal:


Then we got on the bike and rode down Old Cutler Road until we got to the beach at Matheson Hammock Park where we stopped for lunch.




After lunch, we walked over to see Biscayne Bay and we could see downtown Miami in the distance.


And we climbed up this mangrove tree that was growing in the water!


After enjoying the beach for awhile, we decided to continue our bike ride.  We found this little cemetery in the middle of a residential area!  How cool is that!  We read a sign there that said it was one of the oldest cemeteries in the area.



Ossa was little scared to look around, but I thought it would be fun; it was such a pretty little cemetery.  We found a gravestone of someone who was in the Civil War and he died over a hundred years ago!


After that we rode back to the car and came home.

This morning I got up early to watch the Sunrise Balloon Race!  The hot air balloon race started yesterday and finished up today.  The finish line was at the Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport, which is close to where my host lives.  So, Ossa and I set up a lawn chair outside to watch the balloons go by.


Here comes the balloons!




I wish I could have gone up in one of those balloons!

After watching the balloon race, I decided to go fishing!


Hey, I caught a fish!

Today our host took Ossa and me to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park! 

We took a picnic lunch, so we decided to eat first.  We shared a Cuban sandwich and some Fritos.


After lunch, we went to see the lighthouse. 


Here we are sitting on a brick wall with the old top of the lighthouse in the background.  The lighthouse is made from bricks and then whitewashed!


Then we read a sign about the lighthouse.


Our host asked if we wanted to go to the top of the lighthouse, and, of course, we said yes!  We had to climb 109 steps to get to the top!  Whew! what a climb!


We had to stop about halfway to rest and look out this window.


The view from the top was spectacular (and a little scary because we were on a tiny catwalk on the outside of the lighthouse).  Here is the view of the beach from the top:


And the view of the lighthouse keeper's house:


And the view of the end of Cape Florida and the Atlantic Ocean:


Then we climbed down and went to see the lighthouse keeper's house, which has been made into a museum.


Here is the cistern the lighthouse keeper used to collect rainwater:


We went inside the house and we signed the guest register.


Outside again, we found this base marker.  What is it for?


Someone was nice enough to put a sign nearby that told about the base marker.


After all the walking around, we rested on this bench for awhile.


Then we went to the beach and played in the sand for awhile.



Wow, what a fun day we had!

Today I am leaving Miami and going to Oregon! 

First, Ossa came to say goodbye and she gave me a kiss!  I'm really gonna miss you Ossa!


Then Prince Charming came to say goodbye and he told me I was a really cool dude!


Finally, King Kong came by to say goodbye and to share his banana with me before I left. 


I had a great time here and I'm going to miss all my new friends, but it's time to move on!  I will be on USPS Flight #0305 2710 0000 6232 4386.  Adios, amigos!

I have arrived in California!!! Woot! I feel right at home!!

So Izzy has been very busy and not fun. But she made it up to us today by bringing home tiny live roses. Their so cute and the perfect voyager size. She promised to take us on her errends now.